LETTING IT GO: Conor Gleason rears back and fires a pitch for CCRI during a game earlier this season. (Photo courtesy of CCRI)

The CCRI Knights baseball team hosted the Rams of the Naval Academy Preparatory School for a game on Monday evening at Fell Field. The Knights defeated the Rams 1-0 in 14 innings. With the victory, the Knights ended the regular season with a 27-11 record

The Knights won in dramatic fashion. Captain Nick Coro (North Providence) led-off the bottom of the 14th inning by getting hit by a pitch. Coro moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ryan Wordell (Little Compton) for the game’s only run. Coro and Ryan O’Dell (Lincoln) led the offense with three hits apiece, and Tyler Santaniello (Lincoln) chipped in with two hits of his own.

Once again it was the pitching and defense that led the team to victory. Rob West (East Windsor, Conn.) got the start and pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only two hits while striking out three batters. West was followed by Dylan Pingatore (Johnston), who continued to shine on the mound, as he pitched four scoreless innings while giving up only three hits and striking out five batters. Freshman Matt Laferriere (Coventry) came on in the top of the 12th inning and picked up the win by pitching three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit while striking out six batters.

The next games for the Knights will be Friday when they travel to Groton, Conn. to the University of Connecticut at Avery Point for the Region XXI New England Championship best-of-three series. The games will be played Friday at 12 p.m., Saturday at 12 p.m., if necessary, Sunday at 12 p.m.

Newcomers help CCRI golf raise record to 9-1

The CCRI golf team traveled to Chicopee, Mass. to Chicopee Country Club on Saturday for a match versus Holyoke Community College, host school Springfield Technical Community College and UMass-Stockbridge. The Knights shot a team total of 347 to defeat Holyoke and Springfield Tech, but were beat by UMass-Stockbridge who shot a team total of 343. With the 2-1 match, the Knights improved to 9-1 overall and 7-0- in Region XXI play.

Captain Pat O’Connor (North Kingstown) shot his Region XXI-leading average of 77, while freshman Nick DeSalvo (Burrillville) shot an 85. Rounding out the CCRI foursome was Gina Bartolotta (Wakefield), who shot an 86, and Nick Rocchio (East Greenwich), who shot a 98. In stepping up for Knights’ missing captain Anthony Lovechio (Wakefield) and sophomore Greg North (Jamestown) the newcomers DeSalvo, Bartolotta, and Rocchio showed how deep this year’s team is. With the team average of 327 at Chicopee CC, the host of this year’s regional championships, the team is in good shape for a run at NJCAA nationals.

Lady Knights fall to

Massasoit for region title

The CCRI Lady Knights softball team traveled to Brockton, Mass. to play the Warriors of Massasoit Community College for the Region XXI softball championship series over the weekend. On Saturday, the Lady Knights lost the first game 9-0 but won the second 2-1. On Sunday, the two teams play in a winner-take-all game for the region championship, with the Warriors coming out on top 12-3. The Lady Knights ended their season with a 13-14 record. Massasoit Community College advanced to the District championship to be played at Mercyhurst North East in North East, Penn. this weekend.

In the final game, Macayla Paiva got the start for the Lady Knights and pitched three innings, giving up six runs – only one earned – on four hits with one. Paiva was relieved by Dara Patton, who threw three innings, giving up six runs on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

Offensively, Liz Coburn and Sarah Deal had two hits each. Kate Fowler added a double, an RBI and a run scored while Amber Boucher (Warwick) added two hits, Paiva added an RBI double and Mel Iadeluca added a hit and an RBI

Knights’ track runs best times at Regis Pride Invite

The CCRI track & field team traveled to Weston, Mass. to compete in the Regis Pride Invitational on Sunday. Though it was a non-scoring team event, CCRI had some nice top-eight placements along with new personal records.

For the Lady Knights, Olivia Emerick (Cranston) placed seventh in the 400 in a season-best time of 1:05.01 and Cassandra Gustafson (Pawtucket) placed fourth in the javelin with a toss of 34.54m. In addition, Akande Boluwatife (Lagos, Nigeria) ran a career-best in the 200, placing15th in a time of 30.08 seconds.

For the Knights on the men’s side, Bobby Allen (Cranston) led the way by winning the 800 in a time of 1:55.48. Allen also won the 3,000 in a career-best, facility-record time of 8:28.46. Thrower Colin Cabral (Cumberland) placed second in the college hammer with a career-best toss of 42.26m and also placed fifth in the shot put with a toss of 11.20m. The other Knights’ thrower, Kevin Redman (South Kingstown), placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 10.99m. Leaper Jordan Barboza-Simpkins (Warwick) won the triple jump with a season-best leap of 12.74m. High jumper Steven Vazquez (Central Falls) won the event with a leap of 2.01m. Barboza-Simpkins placed fourth in the High Jump with a 1.75m leap. Knights’ sprinter Ryan Rotondo (Cranston) placed sixth in the 100 with a season-best time of 11.50 seconds, followed by Manny Gomes (East Providence), who placed eighth in a season-best time of 11.57 seconds.

Although Carlos Diaz (Smithfield) didn’t place in the top eight, he did run a personal-best time of 11.80 seconds. Diaz was also the first Knight in the 200 with a personal-best time of 23.48 seconds, good for 10th place. Rotondo also ran a personal-best time in the 200 with an 11th place time of 23.60 seconds. Distance runner David Palkovic (Middletown) ran a career-best time in the 1,500, placing seventh in a time of 4:29.08. Palkovic also ran a career-best time in the 3,000, placing fifth in a time of 9:47.89. The Knights 4x4000 team of Vazquez, Dan Duquette (North Attleboro, Mass.), Diaz and Barboza-Simpkins finished the day with a second-place finish in